Can Dizziness Be Caused by Your Eyes?

There are many reasons to have dizziness. In this article I want to concentrate on how dizziness may be caused by vision issues.

The most common reason for eyes contributing to dizziness is a concussion or a traumatic brain injury. This can occur at any age and even a seemingly minor incident as an infant, child or adult can have long lasting consequences.

The pathways from the eye to the brain and back, the eye-brain connection, are particularly vulnerable to damage and therefore dysfunction.

Why is this important in looking at dizziness?

Your sense of balance and equilibrium as you view and navigate the world is based on three inputs to your brain:

Visual
Vestibular
Proprioception

If any of these inputs do not work together with the other two, then your equilibrium is upset and dizziness results.

The visual system is complex but most people understand generally what it is. The terms vestibular and proprioception are not very common words so let’s begin by explaining what they are.

The vestibular system is the connections between your inner ear and your brain that provide precise information about motion, head position and spatial orientation. It allows us to keep our balance, stabilize our head and body during movement and maintain posture.

The proprioception system is made up of thousands of sensors in your joints, tendons and muscles that send signals to your brain. It refers to the body’s ability to perceive its own position in space.

You can feel dizzy when the signals from your eyes, your inner ear and the sensors in your joints, tendons and muscles do not sync together when they reach your brain.

For instance, if you are a passenger in a car on a winding road and your muscles, joints and tendons register a lean to the left, your inner ear also registers a lean to the left but your visual system registers a lean to the right or straight ahead, the confusion between the signals can cause dizziness and even nausea.

The inner ear also sends signals to your eyes for eye movements.

One of the classic reflexes in this system is called the vestibular ocular reflex which keeps a stable image on your retina when you move your head. If the inner ear is damaged it sends inappropriate signals to the eye muscles and this can cause dizziness.

Many eye doctors never test for these relationships as their emphasis is on making an eye exam chart clear and checking your eyes for disease.

The mismatches between the visual, proprioceptive and vestibular system can be helped immensely with specialized “neuro glasses” that rewire and match up the dysfunctional connections between the eye and the brain. Wearing these personalized glasses can go a long way to alleviating your sense of disequilibrium or dizziness.